Death Stranding: My thoughts

With the second game coming out so soon, I decided that it was time to sit down and play the original Death Stranding. I have owned it on my playstation for many years but just hadn't gotten around to playing it yet. Finally, I decided that it was time for me give the game a proper chance, and for the most part, I am very glad that I did.

What immediately stands out about Death Stranding from the first moment that you start the game is the presentation. Death Stranding thrusts you into the world that it has created and tells you to keep up. This willingness to dive in, without worrying about long, and drawn out explanations is a strong choice that shows the developers confidence in the world that they have created, and what a world it is.

Full of strange phenomenon, creepy monsters, fascinating lore, and characters with silly names, I adore the world that Kojima has created here. Right off the bat the game offers so many questions about the world, and I had a great time discovering the answers. I felt satisfied with the answers the game gave me; they felt fresh and while I could certainly point to other stories with similar ideas, and themes, the twists that Kojima puts on each plot point felt completely original.

The story of Death Stranding is one of connection and just how important it is to the survival of humanity. You play as Sam Porter, a delivery man in an apocalyptic America, working for a company called Bridges with aim of reconnecting the ruined country back together again.

Throughout your Journey across America you will come into contact with a host of unique characters, each with their own important part to play. Characters such as: Fragile, Mama, and Heartman are all particular stand outs to me. I loved following their stories and learning their motivations.

I was especially a fan of Clifford Unger. Mads Mikklesen is a favourite actor of mine so I was immediately partial to his character, but learning more about his back story only made me more invested. The final reveal of his story completely shocked me and I would have never suspected it.

The weakest character in the story for me may be the main character Sam. I do not believe that this is the fault of his actor Norman Reedus, but is instead the fault of the writing. Sam is a particularly cold character, and there are many moments where his reactions felt inadequate in comparison to the information he was receiving. Many of the games twists directly involved him as a character and I felt that I was never fully able to grasp how he felt about the situation. Given the games main theme of connection, it felt as though Sam was more of a tool to help assist others in connecting rather than making that connection himself. When contrasted with the often over the top characters that surround him, Sam sometimes felt rather dull.

The one area where I felt his character truly shined was in his relationship to Lou, the baby he carries with him throughout his journey. It's through Sam's small interactions with Lou that he is humanised and Reedus's acting abilities truly shine through. I just wish that the care and attention given to the relationship between Sam and Lou was also given to his interactions with other characters.

While I think that Death Stranding tells an excellent story with interesting characters, almost paradoxically I find the writing to be lacking, and considering there is a lot of it I can absolutely see why this would put many people off. When contrasted with the world of Death Stranding, the dialogue is extremely cheesy, campy, and sometimes down right cringeworthy. As an avid believer of show don't tell, I should dislike this a lot more than I do, but for the most part I found that the cheesy dialogue added a charm to the characters who already come with such silly names. That being, said, there were multiple moments in this game where the emotion was completely ruined by Kojima's sometimes laughable writing. While it was always enjoyable it was not always for the right reasons.

Death Stranding's gameplay has often been negatively described as a walking simulator. While I believe describing Death Stranding as a walking simulator is mostly correct, I do not believe it to be a negative description. The world of Death Stranding is like one giant environmental puzzle, and as you explore the mountains, and rivers you find new ways to solve the puzzle of crossing them. The world is full of different hazards and it lets you come up with your own ways of getting around them

Through various in game mechanics, Death Stranding encourages you to avoid combat. I loved finding new ways to cross the terrain and avoid my enemies. As the game progresses you gain access to new tools you can use in your travels, this helps make paths that were once difficult to navigate become easy. The game feels as though it rewards you for playing it.

The first few hours may feel a little tedious to some, but I loved journeying across mountains on foot, avoiding bandits, and sneaking past, BT'S (the games name for its supernatural enemies).

When playing online the game also makes use of a unique mechanic where you can use the tools placed by other players. There's something so unique about the experience of finding a helpful ladder placed by another player, while never seeing the players themselves. It helps build the sense of community that Death Stranding strives so hard to achieve. Together, you can make the game easier for one another, and that is truly a special experience.

When it comes to the combat I don't have much to say. It is very serviceable and at times can be extremely satisfying. I loved drop kicking enemies, and belly flopping on top of them. That being said, I had more fun attempting to avoid combat than when partaking in it.

Overall I think that Death Stranding is a brilliant game that mostly achieves what it is attempting to do. The dialogue is certainly rough and there is a lot of it, but the characters still manage to shine through despite this. The story offers so many meaningful and interesting questions about what it means to connect with others, and what are the dangers of doing so. I love the world that Kojima and his team have built here and playing through the game has certainly made me excited to see how the second one improves upon an already brilliant foundation.

There were certainly moments of frustration when playing this game. One in particular stands out in my mind but I cannot mention it without spoilers. Yet despite some frustrating moments Death Stranding's excellence shines through. While I wouldn't recommend this game to everyone I would certainly encourage you to give it a shot and see if its brand of strange is for you